Joshua Gilmerhttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com
Portfolio website for Joshua Creed GilmerThu, 06 Jul 2017 16:04:33 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.17WordCamp Birmingham 2016https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/wordcamp-birmingham-2016/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/wordcamp-birmingham-2016/#respondMon, 23 Jan 2017 17:55:17 +0000http://joshuacreedgilmer.com/?p=454I had the wonderful opportunity to be a volunteer for WordCamp Birmingham 2016 last year. There were many meetups involved, and a lot of great people dedicated a great deal of their free time to helping foster the growth of the development community in our city. I learned a great deal from the experience, and my duties included everything graphic design related—from stickers, lanyards, logos and the website, to t-shirts, posters and email templates. I really enjoyed designing everything from the ground up and seeing the design flow to all the various touch points of the conference. My favorite piece that came from all of this was the Vulcan calligram featured on the posters and front of the t-shirts. It took a while to arrange the 200+ words into the iconic bust of Vulcan which has been a staple of Birmingham’s skyline since long before I was born. Can’t wait for WordCamp 2017!
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/wordcamp-birmingham-2016/feed/0Wax: Grow Togetherhttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/wax-grow-together/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/wax-grow-together/#respondThu, 28 Jan 2016 17:01:10 +0000http://joshuacreedgilmer.com/?p=436Made this for part of a Stanford Entrepreneurship course I am taking. The logo illustrates growing together as the letters grow together. The angles work together to create a bit of a half hexagonal shape, which works with the idea of bees and the hive mentality. I created over a 30 different designs before landing on the final version illustrated here with the “grow, together” tagline.
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/wax-grow-together/feed/0Covenant Classical Web Design and Developmenthttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/covenant-classical-web-design-and-development/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/covenant-classical-web-design-and-development/#respondThu, 28 Jan 2016 16:50:29 +0000http://joshuacreedgilmer.com/?p=430I designed this site in 2015. What I like about it is how the fixed navigation and splash area works when you scroll content. I also really like how the design degrades on mobile devices. The site is fully responsive. The back end also affords a lot of flexibility for making changes to the site. Visit Covenant Classical Schools and Daycare
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/covenant-classical-web-design-and-development/feed/0Markus Persson Can Leave Minecrafthttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/markus-persson-can-leave-minecraft/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/markus-persson-can-leave-minecraft/#respondThu, 11 Sep 2014 03:45:47 +0000http://joshuacreedgilmer.com/?p=416Founding fathers are important figures. They pave roads towards new lands and new ideas that weren’t possible without them. As an adult gamer, I have tremendous respect for the founder of Mojang and Minecraft, Markus Persson. When I examine my predilections towards gaming—arguably my favorite and most aged pastime—Minecraft has had one thing over all the games I’ve played in the last decade—staying power. I might get locked into a game (or game series for awhile, but I eventually lose interest). Minecraft must offer something that other games do not: creative expression, exploration, competition, community. Whatever it is, I always return to it. As a genre of gaming, the mixture is magic. With over 50 million purchases, Notch (as Markus is known), has done something very right.

If history has taught us anything, it’s that pioneers make poor parents. Time and again, great leaders and visionaries create something bigger than themselves, to the point that they are at odds with the community they fostered into existence. The small thing they nurture, snowballs into a huge success! This is great; it’s the natural progression of things being done well. Sometimes this success leads to hubris. Sometimes it leads the creator to think they have a deeper understanding of his/her following and of what to do next. An idea sinks in being, “Trust me, I’ve gotten us this far.” I’m not saying this is indicative of Notch’s belief system as present. It’s just something that happens—sometimes!

There are a lot of different personalities in this world. Some of them are better equipped for certain types of work. Some of them love a blank canvas in which they can hash out all the outcropping of ideas bursting from their noggin. Others feel more comfortable in a zone of rules, regulation and of seeing things completed and organized. I know I love the beginnings of projects much more than the mundanity of logging the hours that gets them across the finish line. More often, I am morose by how limitations creep into the creation process and how things created aren’t what I dreamt they would be at their inception. As any artist will attest, the longer time period that has lapsed since you finished a piece of work, the more you dislike it. “This was a wonderful idea in the beginning, but now I hate it.” Maybe it’s the feeling that the thing you made reflects your talent and abilities, and you feel that you are so much better today. Sorry for that rabbit trail, I know I am digressing; back to Notch!

Notch’s personality obviously lent itself to creating something new, to bucking the system of traditional gaming and turning the industry on its ear. I’m sure he didn’t anticipate Minecraft becoming a household name when he began coding it, but nevertheless, we’re all here today. His opus is a worldwide phenomenon. But what comes next? Is his personality—his leadership—also required for further enhancement of the game’s experience? I humbly say, “not likely.”

The reason behind this frame of thought is simple. I mentioned that historically founders lose hold over their audience. Look at Walt Disney. He created the genre of the feature length animated film. He captured the imagination of throngs of fans, from children to adults, who were enamored by this new frontier. But with his successes, he failed to understand the needs of the animators who were churning out literally hundreds of feet of art every week. Disney thought he knew the business, because he was an animator himself, and knew—the way a father knows—what was best for his staff and how to prompt them to be better. Eventually, they unionized and went on strike. What’s interesting is that after that blow to his ego, Disney never seemed to center his life on animation again. He turned to his hobby of miniature trains, and when that combined with his affection for his daughters, he made theme parks. And from theme parks, he went onto urban planning and architecture. He started producing live action movies, and made Mary Poppins for his girls. Ultimately his priorities changed, and I think we can all agree, this opened him up to create even more amazing things—even though feature length animation and Mickey Mouse would have been enough for one man’s lifetime of achievement.

Steve Jobs is another example. You may be thinking, “but wait…he started Apple and finished his life and career there.” True, but he was also fired from his own company for a stint in his life. And it was during this time that he created Next, the brainchild of which would go on to be used at Apple once he returned to the company. He also saw the promise in a very young Pixar when he invested $10 million in the fledgling studio.

All this is to say that creator’s should do what they are geared to do—create! Be idealists and ideate. Abandon what doesn’t work; be visionaries. Realize at some point the current canvas in any innovator’s life becomes too convoluted or completed for their gifts to shine. In traditional 2D character animation, there are animators and tweeners. Each second of animation is typically 24 frames; that is 24 drawings to draw for each second of film. The animation lead creates the key poses for a character, and the tweeners do the frames that are well, in be-“tween.” Some people aren’t afraid of the blank frame and start drawing, and others take satisfaction in doing the leg work that gets something bigger than themselves across the finish line. When we all play towards our talents and abilities, great things can happen.

Where does that leave Markus Persson? Well, personally, I think he’s laid the track for other’s to maintain. The business isn’t on autopilot by any means, but I don’t think his talents are as critical to the continued success of Minecraft. The key poses are drawn so to speak, and I’m ready to see his next masterpiece. The animated films that followed after Walt Disney’s hands left the stern didn’t tank, they didn’t nosedive and kill his company. For decades, endearing films wove their way into my childhood, and in 1995 a Disney devotee by the name of John Lasseter and an unlikely duo of cowboy and space ranger revolutionized animation once more. I’m sure Microsoft isn’t interested in throwing $2 billion down the drain; they’ll put considerable resources into their investment. Somewhere Notch’s protege is dreaming up new unseen cubetopia’s for us to enjoy decades from now. Minecraft will be okay without Notch, and he can always consult with Microsoft on the game’s future. It is and will continue to be successful and fun.

Furthermore, prolonged exposure to success is a cautionary tale. It can cause pride, stagnation and tarnish your reputation. As Harvey Dent said in The Dark Knight, “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” I remember earlier this summer when Minecraft went through its EULA debacle. Notch wanted to limit people from charging for core game play experiences on hosted servers, and a media-fueled craze commenced. Categorically, it sounded like the whole situation was a giant misunderstanding. Notch was protective of Minecraft’s core experience and the community, and took a paternal role towards safeguarding them. And in the frustration of dealing with the ignorant masses, he left a curt tweet reading, “Anyone want to buy my share of Mojang so I can move on with my life? Getting hate for trying to do the right thing is not my gig.” So this isn’t the first time he’s threatened to leave. Hah, now that I think about it, I can just imagine some Microsoft exec reading that tweet and taking it seriously. “Do you take bitcoin?”

Being prone to lash out from time to time, I hope that Notch is serious this time around. I hope this isn’t just him exuding an: it’s my way or the highway vibe. I genuinely hope he does leave Mojang, and he can do so with my blessing—not that he needed it anyways. Go “move on with your life,” Markus. Sometimes artists need a fresh start, a good reboot. To be honest, I feel a bit giddy with anticipation at the idea of him having his focus 100% on something new. Let’s just hope it’s truly original, and not a cover of his past success. “Cough! Destiny is just Halo all over again! Cough!”

P.S. I’ll still play Destiny because story reboot aside, the beta was fun!

]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/markus-persson-can-leave-minecraft/feed/0Jeremy Oden Campaign Logohttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/jeremy-oden-campaign-logo/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/jeremy-oden-campaign-logo/#respondThu, 20 Mar 2014 00:08:36 +0000http://joshuacreedgilmer.com/?p=405This political campaign logo was created for PSC Jeremy Oden. I haven’t really completed a lot of political campaign graphic design work in my career. As it happens, this won’t be published because they have already invested a lot into the printing of their old campaign assets. Oh well; let me know what you think about it!
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/jeremy-oden-campaign-logo/feed/0Twitter Minimal Flat Logo Designhttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/twitter-minimal-flat-logo-design/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/twitter-minimal-flat-logo-design/#respondWed, 26 Feb 2014 21:07:10 +0000http://joshuacreedgilmer.com/?p=399This Twitter logo redesign is a fun personal project I did after reading an article on Fast Company. It is an evolution from Roberto Manzari’s design which was thought to be too clever and not well align with Twitter’s brand strengths of whimsy and approachability. I believe my rendering bridges the gap between his minimalist logo design and Twitter’s brand. It may not be 100% there though, and I love Twitter’s current logo too much to ever think they should use this one!

]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/twitter-minimal-flat-logo-design/feed/0Outside the Boxhttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/outside-the-box/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/outside-the-box/#respondWed, 12 Feb 2014 21:51:28 +0000http://localhost/joshuacreedgilmer/?p=7Outside the Box is a short animation I dreamt up in college. Its the story of a small robot that is also a floor tile. Basically, it is about how changes in our environment not only dictate who we are, but also aid us in our own self-realization. We can learn a lot about who we are from our surroundings. The ball serves as the catalyst for change, after it drops into the open room. Eventually the ball if fought over, and springs out of the room. That leaves the droids clambering to escape. One makes it out and returns through a side door with the ball. He throws it to another droid, and walks away. All the other droids pile out of the room, the ball no longer important when compared to what lies outside.
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/outside-the-box/feed/0next radarhttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/next-radar/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/next-radar/#respondTue, 11 Feb 2014 21:37:46 +0000http://localhost:8888/INSTALLS/joshuacreedgilmer/?p=190This is my favorite logo I’ve created to date. It a conspiracy theorist’s nightmare. I started with a topographical map of Easter Island, the Golden Ratio and married in three powerful figures of any Illuminati logo: the upward triangle (or pyramid), circle and cross. This abstract logo is instantly memorable. Look at on a half dozen occasions and you’ll feel like the mark has been with you for ages. It’s brutal simplicity in design, and the logo is transferrable to so many different mediums. If I had to be remembered for one logo, I’d want it to be this one.
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/next-radar/feed/0Shugie’s Gourmethttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/shugies-gourmet/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/shugies-gourmet/#respondMon, 10 Feb 2014 21:40:53 +0000http://localhost:8888/INSTALLS/joshuacreedgilmer/?p=205Shugie’s is a Birmingham-local startup selling gourmet cheese products and more. I was involved in the branding, identity and logo design creation as well as several print and graphic design jobs. From the name to the tagline copy, my fingerprints are in this brand. “Share food. Share life. Share Shugie’s.” is a great motto for a 21st Century business that is all about “sharing” everything online. The hashtag generation has a call to action in the slogan, #shareshugies. The logo design went in several directions before turning the “S” into the standalone logotype. The bowl and spoon “S” has the potential to become iconic quickly, and stand on its own while supporting the brand in the future.
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/shugies-gourmet/feed/0Topics on Opticshttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/topics-on-optics/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/topics-on-optics/#respondSun, 09 Feb 2014 21:41:22 +0000http://localhost:8888/INSTALLS/joshuacreedgilmer/?p=208I was tasked with creating three publication brands in the eye care industry. Topics on Optics is a name I came up with, and it’s one of my favorites of the three created. Surprisingly, the .com TLD for topics on optics was available. The last step was coming up with a logo. I like this one, but if I ever get more time, I’d love to revisit this and fine-tune the logo.
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/topics-on-optics/feed/0recyclABILITYhttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/recyclability/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/recyclability/#respondSat, 08 Feb 2014 21:39:45 +0000http://localhost:8888/INSTALLS/joshuacreedgilmer/?p=199Completed for The ARC of Jefferson County, this pro bono project is about aligning mentally challenged individuals in the workplace. In the case of recyclABILITY, this was the document shredding business. This logo, while aesthetically pleasing was an earlier work, and I don’t know that I would push this design on a client today. The appeal is lost if the skeuomorphism is withheld. This limits the mobility of logo into different mediums such as embroidery.
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/recyclability/feed/0schmashhttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/schmash/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/schmash/#respondMon, 27 Jan 2014 21:40:20 +0000http://localhost:8888/INSTALLS/joshuacreedgilmer/?p=202This is a logo for a personal project I’m working on. The idea is to “schmash” calendars together. That’s why I used a typical calendar block of space design element between the ascenders in the logo. Simple, but I will revisit and create a simple square logo mark. This will eventually be a smartphone app.
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/schmash/feed/0Pivotal Point Golfhttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/pivotal-point-golf/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/pivotal-point-golf/#respondMon, 27 Jan 2014 21:39:16 +0000http://localhost:8888/INSTALLS/joshuacreedgilmer/?p=196A small project done for a work friend, this logo utilize very simplistic shapes to create perspective. Ample use of the golden ratio lends this logo its balance. I have included several images from the creative mock-up process as well. Enjoy!
]]>https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/pivotal-point-golf/feed/0Ophthalmic Insightshttps://joshuacreedgilmer.com/ophthalmic-insights/
https://joshuacreedgilmer.com/ophthalmic-insights/#respondMon, 27 Jan 2014 21:38:43 +0000http://localhost:8888/INSTALLS/joshuacreedgilmer/?p=193Ophthalmic Insights has a somewhat unique logo mark. We wanted to portray a scholarly look and feel, so I used a fountain pen for the mark. A subtle element is that the nib in the pen is in the shape of an eye.
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